I have a friend who used to work with me at a major airline whose name is John. Because of eroding benefits and salaries, he could no longer support his growing family. Even though the industry failed him and his family, he didn’t complain or ask for a federal bailout. Rather, like a true American, he resigned his position and went in search of a better future for his family.

I have been an airline employee for the past 19 years and I am vehemently opposed to a federal bailout of the industry. Throughout my career, I have witnessed inefficiency of the highest degree, from security lapses to poor customer service, and I fear that an unconditional bailout only serves the executives and stockholders while, at the same time, subjecting the well-being of the public to profit margins.

Overcapacity has been the airline industry’s indiscretion. Mergers and buyouts have become common; companies trying to outdo each other in their effort to be the biggest. They have overspent and engaged in price wars that result in staggering losses when demand for their service decreases. Load factors are abysmal because of uncertain times and will most likely remain below profitable levels, even as our mood as a nation improves. No amount of federal money can solve this problem. The creation of excess capacity in the absence of prudent fiscal responsibility is no terrorist plot. It is poor management, pure and simple.

The airline industry has had problems since deregulation, and this year was going to be another year of huge losses, even before the tragedy at the World Trade Center. The airline executives are shamelessly taking advantage of this country’s pain to get them out of a hole they dug themselves into by asking for $24 billion! (Congress is considering $15 billion.) The airline executives have shown themselves to be no better than the vermin who are selling anything with an American flag on it at exorbitant prices.

Let the airlines work through the tough times just like every other American who is certain to face them in the near future. Let the airlines enter the marketplace for the dollars they need to survive. Banks will loan them the money. Some airlines might fail, but there will be plenty of entrepreneurs ready to buy the planes and routes at fire-sale prices, rehire the workers, and start smaller, more efficient companies that serve us better. We have turned our airline industry into a commodity that provides customer service and safety no better than a fast food chain. Prices need to rise. With proper government intervention, prices will rise to a level that will provide us with the safety and service we are entitled to. Air travel is a luxury, not a right (not everyone can own a Mercedes).

My friend John found his future and was building a better life for his wife and three children. That ended on Sept. 11, 2001, because John Grazioso had found his better life working for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of the World Trade Center, and is one of the many missing.

Our current battle is going to be a long one that requires patience and sacrifices from all of us — citizens and corporations alike. We need to save our airline industry, but not at the expense of continued mismanagement, or at the expense of those who entrust their lives to the safe operation of it. Let us not fail John a third time.

Steve Colaguori

Long Branch